Ashton Jeanty named finalist for three national awards

Jeanty up for Maxwell Award, Walter Camp Award and Doak Walker Award

Boise State Broncos running back and Heisman Trophy candidate Ashton Jeanty. / Troy Babbitt-Imagn Images

Boise State tailback Ashton Jeanty continues to receive recognition for his record-breaking junior season. 

Tuesday morning, Jeanty was selected as a finalist for three national awards.

Jeanty, a Heisman Trophy candidate, was named a finalist for the Maxwell Award (national player of the year), Walter Camp Award (nation’s most outstanding player) and Doak Walker Award (nation’s best running back). 

A graduate of Texas’ Lone Star High School, Jeanty has 275 carries for 2,062 yards and 27 touchdowns this season. He leads the nation in all three categories. His 1,512 yards after contact are higher than the overall rushing total for Iowa’s Kaleb Johnson (1,492), who ranks second in the country in rushing. 

Jeanty’s 2,062 yards are a Boise State single-season record. In last week’s win at Wyoming, Jeanty became the first FBS player to rush for 2,000 yards in a season since Oklahoma State’s Chuba Hubbard in 2019. 

Barry Sanders’ all-time single-season rushing record of 2,628 yards is still within reach for Jeanty. Sanders needed just 11 games (the NCAA didn’t begin including bowl game statistics until 2002) to accomplish the feat in 1988. 

Jeanty should have at least three more games to catch Sanders’ mark. 

No. 12 Boise State (10-1, 7-0 Mountain West Conference) plays Oregon State (5-6) at 10 a.m. Mountain time Friday in a non-conference game at Albertsons Stadium to close the regular season. The Broncos will then host the Mountain West Football Championship on Dec. 6 against No. 24 UNLV (9-2, 5-1) or Colorado State (7-4, 5-1). 

Two victories would all but guarantee a spot in the College Football Playoff for Boise State, giving Jeanty up to four postseason games to pile up yards. The five highest-ranked conference champions receive an automatic bid to the new 12-team playoff with the top four champions earning a first-round bye.

During his Broncos career, Jeanty has received six Mountain West Offensive Player of the Week honors and four Doak Walker National Running Back of the Week awards. He is widely expected to be an early pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. 

Jeanty is the first player nationally to run for 125 or more yards in his first 11 games since 1996. He has six games this season with three or more rushing touchdowns. 

Here are the finalists for the Maxwell Award, Walter Camp Award and Doak Walker Award. 

Maxwell Award finalists 

Dillon Gabriel, Oregon

Travis Hunter, Colorado 

Ashton Jeanty, Boise State

Walter Camp Award finalists 

Travis Hunter, Colorado 

Ashton Jeanty, Boise State 

Cam Ward, Miami

Doak Walker Award finalists

Omarion Hampton, North Carolina 

Ashton Jeanty, Boise State 

Kaleb Johnson, Iowa